Court ordered compensation
Image Credit source: ai generated
Ernakulam District Consumer Commission of Kerala has imposed a heavy fine on an airline. This is a case of airline staff stopping a child from traveling due to lack of proper knowledge of the rules. Due to this mistake of the staff, a family had to face mental trouble and financial loss. Actually, the matter is of July 2013, when a passenger named Joseph had to go from Kochi to Doha (Qatar) with his family. He reached the airport on time and asked for a boarding pass, but the airline supervisor flatly refused to give the pass to his minor child.
The airline staff argued that the child’s visa was stamped on an old passport, so he could not travel. Whereas Joseph had presented both the old and new passports together. The parents got the pass but the child was stopped, so the entire family could not travel.
Entry into the second flight was granted without any restrictions.
Joseph pleaded with the staff and said that if any fine was imposed, he would pay it, but the staff did not listen to him. He was forced to cancel his tickets and buy new Emirates Airline tickets for the next day.
The surprising thing was that the next day, Emirates Airline gave the child a boarding pass without any questions on the same old passport and visa. The family reached Doha comfortably. This made it clear that the staff of the first airline was wrong.
Joseph said that the Emirates staff had correct knowledge of immigration rules. At the same time, the airline which had stopped him, instead of admitting its mistake, cited an alleged circular of Qatar, which was later declared fake by the court.
The court called the airline’s arguments ‘concoction’
While hearing the case, the Consumer Commission expressed strong displeasure over the attitude of the airline. The court said that the behavior of the staff was such that they were getting ‘sadistic pleasure’ in harassing others. The Commission found that the circular presented by the airline was completely fabricated.
The court also said that the rules of immigration for international flights are the same for all airlines. It cannot happen that one airline (Emirates) takes a passenger and the other bans the same document. This is a direct case of deficiency in service.
The Commission also cited as evidence the example of another passenger who had traveled by the same airline on the same day despite having a visa on an old passport. This proved that Joseph was discriminated against and the airline’s defense was weak.
Court ordered compensation
Recently the decision of about 12 years long legal battle came in favor of the passenger. The court ordered that the airline will have to return the ticket money with 9% interest. By adding interest from 2013 till now, this amount becomes approximately Rs 70,000.
Apart from this, the court has ordered a separate compensation of Rs 50,000 for the mental anguish caused to the family. Additionally, an additional Rs 5,000 will have to be paid as expenses for the court proceedings.
Overall, the airline will now have to pay approximately Rs 1.25 lakh to the victim’s family. The court has ordered the airline to pay this amount within 30 days, otherwise additional interest will have to be paid in case of delay.